It's gonna take eleven
I am back! Showered and tidied up after the run, of course. I tried Jungle, it smells pretty intriguing - the real test will be to see what my hair's like when it's dried.
The run itself was OK. Unfortunately, since the sun was out there were people around in the park when we went. There were three separate spots where the people were parked near the track we follow so we lapped them several times. Most of them stayed till the end. I hate that! Like they could pull out a timer and just judge my progress each time I passed.
Though I did feel good about a group of women who seemed to run one lap and then sat on a bench for most of the time we were there. Like there's someone else out there I could possibly impress. Maybe?
Yesterday when I was making the pretzels I ended up kneading the dough for almost an hour - apparently lean doughs (without much fat or oil) seem to need (ha) a lot more effort to develop the gluten, especially without a mixer. Last night I kept waking up because my arms were sore. All I'm saying is, my arms had better be AWESOME by the time I'm consistently good at dough.
The first three minutes of the run today threatened a stitch so I doubted my ability to continue, but I just moved slowly (like I could have moved fast) and it seemed to stay away. At the end of next week we try our first 20 minute jog. Whoo! I think I will be over in the corner, dying slowly...
Anyway.
I've been wanting to write about what I think I've achieved in my time away. It's been just over 6 months now. I'm not sure when exactly I'll be heading home. I have a return ticket booked for August, but I may move it back till November, or maybe earlier if I run out of money or get a job back home.
It's funny, but the year I don't make resolutions seems to be the year where I think I've done a lot of the things I've always been meaning to do. I'm better at cooking, and am slowly learning baking. I'm helping to maintain a home, away from my family. I spend so much time with J! And we're doing well together. This is the longest we've ever gotten to be together in our whole 3+ year relationship. I've started jogging. I'm reading more widely, and I'm making myself think more about what I'm reading by writing reviews when I'm done. I've done a bit of travelling, I still plan to do more. I've seen snow!
I still haven't managed a job, so that's a little depressing, but on the other hand I've gotten a chance to get a lot of other things done.
So there's that.
----------------
Listening to: Jason Webley & Jay Thompson - Eleven Saints
via FoxyTunes
The run itself was OK. Unfortunately, since the sun was out there were people around in the park when we went. There were three separate spots where the people were parked near the track we follow so we lapped them several times. Most of them stayed till the end. I hate that! Like they could pull out a timer and just judge my progress each time I passed.
Though I did feel good about a group of women who seemed to run one lap and then sat on a bench for most of the time we were there. Like there's someone else out there I could possibly impress. Maybe?
Yesterday when I was making the pretzels I ended up kneading the dough for almost an hour - apparently lean doughs (without much fat or oil) seem to need (ha) a lot more effort to develop the gluten, especially without a mixer. Last night I kept waking up because my arms were sore. All I'm saying is, my arms had better be AWESOME by the time I'm consistently good at dough.
The first three minutes of the run today threatened a stitch so I doubted my ability to continue, but I just moved slowly (like I could have moved fast) and it seemed to stay away. At the end of next week we try our first 20 minute jog. Whoo! I think I will be over in the corner, dying slowly...
Anyway.
I've been wanting to write about what I think I've achieved in my time away. It's been just over 6 months now. I'm not sure when exactly I'll be heading home. I have a return ticket booked for August, but I may move it back till November, or maybe earlier if I run out of money or get a job back home.
It's funny, but the year I don't make resolutions seems to be the year where I think I've done a lot of the things I've always been meaning to do. I'm better at cooking, and am slowly learning baking. I'm helping to maintain a home, away from my family. I spend so much time with J! And we're doing well together. This is the longest we've ever gotten to be together in our whole 3+ year relationship. I've started jogging. I'm reading more widely, and I'm making myself think more about what I'm reading by writing reviews when I'm done. I've done a bit of travelling, I still plan to do more. I've seen snow!
I still haven't managed a job, so that's a little depressing, but on the other hand I've gotten a chance to get a lot of other things done.
So there's that.
----------------
Listening to: Jason Webley & Jay Thompson - Eleven Saints
via FoxyTunes